


they find it all (a different story)

by kneworder



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 5+1, Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves' powers, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, No Incest, Pre-Canon, What-If, actually more like 6+1, ao3 if you screw with my tags again i'm suing, but lbr All of the Hargreeves Siblings Need Hugs, consequences of having a time-traveling assassin for a brother, i hope this isn't too convoluted lmao, time travel bs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-05
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27397621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kneworder/pseuds/kneworder
Summary: "On the nights that Allison wakes up screaming, her siblings all shut their eyes tighter, wishing that they were allowed to leave their rooms after dark.On the nights that Allison wakes up screaming, Klaus shuts his eyes tighter and puts his pillow over his head, because she’s not the only one haunted by what she did.The man is there because she killed him, Klaus knows now. It shouldn’t be as surprising as it is.But as horrific as the spirit may be, as torturous his shouting, he’s not the worst part.The worst part is that if this ghost is following his killer, how does Klaus explain the dozens of gruesome corpses floating through the halls of Hargreeves Manor?"--After their first mission, Klaus realizes ghosts haunt their killers, and comes to the most logical conclusion possible: their father must be a serial killer.(Six possible siblings to confide in, seven possible outcomes.)
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 22
Kudos: 157





	1. KLAUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title from Ceremony by New Order

Allison kills someone their first mission. 

Their father is as close to proud as any of them have ever seen him. 

The kids themselves don’t know what to think -- for as long as they’ve been alive, the only people they’ve ever really interacted with are each other. The man Allison rumored into shooting himself? Why would he matter to them? After all, he had been _doing something bad_ , and _doing something bad_ always leads to getting punished, and the greater the crime the greater the punishment. If Klaus stealing confiscated eyeshadow back from Grace was enough for two extra nights locked in the mausoleum, it follows that attempting to purchase large quantities of illegal weapons was grounds for death.

(That logic doesn’t stop Allison from waking up screaming in the middle of the night, the phantom of blood splattered across her face, because she knew he would _bleed_ but she never knew how _much._ )

All morality aside, Klaus makes an odd discovery the day after. 

Klaus has always done his best to avoid the ghosts, but his best has never been enough. Hargreeves mansion is absolutely _packed_ with ghosts, and despite Klaus’ best efforts, he’s far more well-acquainted with them than he wants to be. 

So when Klaus finds the thug from yesterday pacing the upstairs corridor, blood leaking from his right temple and onto Mom’s precious carpeting, he is dumbstruck. 

Klaus has been able to see the dead for as long as he can remember. His first friend was a little girl named Astrid who spoke exclusively German and always wore a lacy dress and a hole where her heart should have been. 

But the dead have always been the _same_ dead for as long as he can remember. No one has ever just waltzed right into the Academy before. 

(There are always new faces in the mausoleum, ones that he didn’t grow up with, ones that scream and cry and grab at him with an intensity he rarely sees at home.)

Klaus _knows_ his demons because they’ve been the same since childhood. 

This guy, he doesn’t know. 

Klaus doesn’t approach the mansion’s newest resident; the brain matter dripping onto his shoulder is a bit much for his eleven year old eyes. It’s not an unfamiliar sight -- god knows how many bullet wounds wander around the house --, but he was there when this man died; remembers it in excruciating detail. 

The man doesn’t seem to care that Klaus is avoiding him, however. He’s far too focused on Allison. 

As time goes on, Klaus realizes that while he sees the new man all over the mansion, he always gravitates back to Allison, as if some strange magnetic force was pulling him towards her. For the first few days, he never seems to stop screaming. The closer he gets to Allison, the more coherent the screaming gets, going from the ramblings of spirits Klaus is all too familiar with, to pointed rants about how he didn’t want to die, he never wanted to die, _how did you make me die?_

On the nights that Allison wakes up screaming, her siblings all shut their eyes tighter, wishing that they were allowed to leave their rooms after dark. 

On the nights that Allison wakes up screaming, Klaus shuts his eyes tighter and puts his pillow over his head, because she’s not the only one haunted by what she did. 

The man is there because she killed him, Klaus knows now. It shouldn’t be as surprising as it is. 

But as horrific as the spirit may be, as torturous his shouting, he’s not the worst part. 

The worst part is that if this ghost is following his killer, how does Klaus explain the dozens of gruesome corpses floating through the halls of Hargreeves Manor? 

The question scares the hell out of Klaus, because it changes _everything_. He’s suspected, for quite some time, that his father is not a good person. The rose-colored veneer of young childhood has been slipping since Diego confessed to hating small spaces ever since dad locked him in a safe for a day, testing his ability to suffocate. Since Ben came back from ‘training’ in the woods catatonic and coated in animal’s blood. Since Vanya asked if she could go on their mission and was rewarded with a backhand across the face. Since Luther was deterred from sneaking onto the roof at night and looking at the stars with isolation from the others for a week, an isolation he came back from with new bruises and new obedience. Since Klaus crept into the basement in search of the crayons he’d lost and instead found Five in a straitjacket, staring at their dad with wild, watery eyes. Since Allison _killed_ a man and was met with praise until she started to cry and was met with indifference.

Since Klaus had been tossed in a mausoleum of relentless, screaming, _rotting_ people for hours and hours of interminable torture. 

Klaus was told that his father was a ‘great man’ time and time again, but he’s been questioning it for a long while. 

Knowing that there are dozens of clear murder victims wandering the mansion calls Reginald Hargreeves’ character even further into question. 

Klaus isn’t the brother obsessed with logic, but here’s what he knows: murdered ghosts follow their killers after they die. There are numerous ghosts in the mansion who have been shot, stabbed, and strangled, to name just a few. The ghosts have been there since before the kids could walk. 

There’s only one conclusion that Klaus can come to, as far as he’s concerned: his father, cold, calculating, and emotionless, is a serial killer -- or at least, was, before the Academy. 

And --

And what? 

What is he supposed to do with that information? 

Klaus is eleven years old: he can’t run away, not far. And besides, he’d never leave without his siblings. He could tell them, but would they even believe him? Luther would never contradict their father, and who’s to tell if Allison would even care. Diego never takes the ghosts seriously, and Klaus isn’t all that close with Ben or Vanya. Five might believe him, if only because he seems to hate dad more than anyone in the house. 

He has six siblings. Six possible people to tell, six possible courses of action. 

But even if he confided in them, even if they believed him, what could they do? What could any of them _do_? 

Klaus doesn’t want to keep his father’s secrets. 

Maybe he’s wrong about their father, but Klaus has been trying harder at looking him in the eye recently, and he’s never seen anything human looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i should have posted this like a year and a half ago but somehow never finished it so I'm doing it now to try to kick my ass into gear. hopefully it works!  
> (this fic is actually a way angstier take on an old post of mine, which you can read [here](https://kneworder.tumblr.com/post/183853593457/this-is-funny-to-me-for-some-reason) if you want a fairly obvious spoiler!)  
> come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://kneworder.tumblr.com)  
> 


	2. ALLISON

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus doesn’t really mean to tell Allison, it just sort of comes out.

Klaus doesn’t really mean to tell Allison, it just sort of comes out. They’re laying shoulder to shoulder on her bedroom floor, taking advantage of their weekly half hour of free time. Klaus is trying to focus on the magazine laid out in front of them, but his eyes keep wandering back to the dead weapons dealer standing in Allison’s doorway. Without warning, he blurts, “There are a ton of ghosts in the house and I think dad killed them,” the words tumbling out in a rush. 

Allison’s perfectly sculpted, camera-ready eyebrows raise. She looks up from the magazine, the Top Ten Teen Heartthrobs of Summer forgotten. “Excuse me?” she says. 

Klaus exhales shakily. “I…” he starts. Stops. Takes another breath. “I think dad might be a serial killer.” He frowns. “Or-- I think he  _ was  _ a serial killer. There aren’t any weird  _ new  _ ghosts, or if there are I haven’t noticed, but I think I would have noticed if there were like, a whole lot of new guys, that would--” 

“Klaus,” Allison says. His heart sinks when he sees her disbelieving half-smile. “You’re not serious, right?” 

Klaus tears his gaze away from the ghost it’s wandered back to and turns it on her. “Allison, I’m not making this up, I swear.” 

She laughs, pushing herself up off the wood floor. Allison sits up, one arm casually propped on her bent knee. “Dad’s not a  _ serial killer _ , Klaus. That’s crazy. Why would you even think that?” 

“The ghosts--” 

“If there are ghosts in the manor, they probably just-- just died here before dad bought this place.” She gives him a pointed look. “It’s not like you’ve asked them, is it?” 

Klaus feels his face heat up. He knows what he sees, he doesn’t  _ need  _ to talk to the ghosts to figure out the truth. He  _ doesn’t _ . 

He bites his lip. “You don’t get it, Allie.” 

Her smile grows. The phantom at the threshold crosses his arms over his chest. “Then you’re not explaining it very well,” Allison counters.

Klaus starts to regret saying anything. 

Of all his siblings, he’s probably closest to Allison. She’s the only one willing to put up with his antics for longer than a few minutes, always excited to hear whatever drama he may have conjured up. He’s the only willing participant in the makeovers Allison has been desperate to give lately, always excited to let her experiment with whatever new product she may have been able to rumor an unwitting drug store cashier into parting with. Privately, they share dreams of escape, of glamor beyond the Academy. 

But Allison is also an expert at dismissal -- she’s used to getting what she wants, and has a difficult time imagining anyone else struggling. Allison can have a rather black and white worldview that Luther-the-golden-boy is far more likely to appreciate than Klaus-the-fuckup ever will. 

Klaus gets up from the floor to sit cross-legged. “Fine,” he says. He tries to muster a grin, but he’s too frustrated to do anything more than grimace. “Ghosts follow their killers,” he says, teeth bared. 

Allison freezes at that, her face draining of color in an instant. Then, before Klaus has time to react, her smile is back. “No, they don’t,” she says. 

For a moment, Klaus is confused. “I’m pretty sure I’m the ghost expert here,” he says. 

“That’s ridiculous,” Allison says. She stands up and walks to her vanity. She shuffles through its drawers. “So, Mom confiscated the eyeshadow and the lipstick again, but I finally nicked some eyeliner last week. You should let me try it on you.” 

Caught off guard by the sudden subject change, Klaus frowns. “Allison, I’m serious, there are so many ghosts here, and I really don’t know what to do about it, like can we even call the police, is that--?” 

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” Allison says, grinning wide and white and  _ fake _ . “C’mere, I wanna try this.” 

Klaus starts towards her, “Allison--”

“ _ I heard a rumor that you stopped talking and let me do your makeup, _ ” she says, her words washing over him in a rippling wave of sound. 

Abruptly, Klaus sits down on the bed, his mouth artificially closed. 

“Stop glaring, you’re gonna make it all smudgy,” Allison says, brandishing a pencil. “Now, close your eyes.” 

Obediently, Klaus does so, the rumor making him frustratingly pliant. Allison traces a soft line along his eyelid. “Ghosts don’t follow their killers, Klaus,” she says, dabbing at the line to blend it before moving on to his other eye. “That’s not true.” She works in silence for a second longer before giving the command to “Open your eyes.” 

Once again, he’s greeted with Allison’s smiling face. She nods, satisfied with her work. “I think it turned out pretty nice!” She nods towards the mirror. “What do you think?” 

The invitation to speak breaks the rumor’s spell, but the words, “I think you need to  _ listen to me _ ,” die on his lips as Klaus checks his reflection. “Whoa,” he breathes, “I… really like it.” The dark smudging makes his green eyes look large and striking, standing out in his pale face. “It looks really cool, Allison.” 

“I knew it would!” she crows. A self-satisfied smirk makes its way onto her face as she sets about reorganizing her desk. 

Klaus is so transfixed by his own foreign reflection he almost doesn’t notice when Allison goes worryingly still. “I mean, ghosts can’t follow their killers,” she says, tone falsely casual, “That would mean that man is following me, and that’s… that’s crazy.”

It’s Klaus’ turn to freeze. 

Allison turns slowly, her expression tight. “Isn’t it?” 

“I…” Unbidden, Klaus’ gaze flits to the doorway. The dead arms dealer grins with blood stained teeth. 

Allison follows his stare. “Dad isn’t a serial killer,” she says. “You’re wrong.” Her breath starts to pick up when she realizes she can’t see what Klaus does. “You’re making this up. He’s not-- You’re not--” 

“Allison, it’s not that big a deal, seriously, you can’t see him, it’s not like he can do anything--” 

His sister’s tenuous mask of normalcy shatters. Her mouth drops open, her dark eyes grow huge. Frantically, she looks between Klaus and the doorway. “He’s not!” she shouts. “He’s not here! That’s not how it works, that’s not, that’s-- He’s not here!”

Klaus winces and points to her dresser on the other side of the room. “I mean, technically, he’s over there now,” he says. The dead man laughs as Allison yelps and scurries as far away as possible. 

“No!” she screams. “You’re lying! This isn’t  _ funny _ !” 

“Allison, I’m--”

“ _ I heard a rumor that you couldn’t see the ghosts anymore! _ ”

Klaus has never been to the ocean before, but he imagines that this is what it feels like to be smacked with the full force of a wave. He stumbles backwards onto the bed, blinking furiously. His whole body feels numb, wrong, wrong,  _ wrong _ . He barely feels it as he wraps his arms around himself, breath coming in short gasps. Klaus shivers, his whole body shaking with tremors. 

Someone grabs his shoulder hard enough to bruise. The pain is grounding. Klaus focuses on it, takes hold of it and pulls himself back to consciousness. He blinks a few more times, and the world starts to come back into focus. Luther is in front of him, red-faced and angry but not quite angry enough to hide his fear. Luther is yelling, but the noise is distorted, as if coming from underwater. Klaus screws up his face and shuts his eyes until the sound comes back to normal. 

“What did you  _ do _ ?” Luther cries. “What did you say to her?” 

But Klaus pays no attention to him, because the space next to Allison’s dresser is completely empty. “I…” he starts, “I didn’t…” 

Evidently, Klaus doesn’t answer fast enough, because Luther lets go of his shoulder with a shout of frustration. “Allison, what happened?” he asks, rushing to where their sister is sobbing against the wall. Roughly, she pushes him away. 

“Allison,” Klaus says, voice soft. He feels like he’s in a dream. “Allison!” he calls. 

She flinches, but doesn’t look up. 

“Allison, he’s  _ gone _ ,” Klaus says. His face splits in a real smile. “He’s gone.” 

Klaus runs out of Allison’s room, ignoring Luther’s shout to “Get back here!” He rushes into the hall and finds it completely and utterly empty. 

“Ha!” Klaus shouts, throwing himself down the stairway and into the beautifully deserted living room. His heart is racing, pounding so hard he thinks it’ll beat right out of his chest. He can  _ breathe _ , for the first time in years. 

“Klaus, dear? Did something happen?” 

Klaus whirls around to Mom’s artificial concern. 

“Uh,” he responds, suddenly acutely aware of the choice he has to make. 

Then Klaus thinks of deafening nights locked in a crypt and realizes there isn’t much of a choice at all. “Nope!” he says. “Just… playing around!” 

Mom nods in understanding. “That’s lovely, dear.” 

And it is. 

It’s so,  _ so  _ lovely. 

\---

Against all odds, it lasts almost two years. Klaus’ powers aren’t exactly quantifiable to anyone but himself, and he was always quick to adapt. He spends nineteen months miming to empty spaces and fabricating useless stories on missions, nineteen months relishing in the stillness of the mausoleum and forcing himself to look scared when his father returns. Nineteen months sleeping peacefully. 

Allison never tells, all too aware of what their father might do should he find out. Luther practically begs her to tell him what happened, but she remains stubbornly silent. They share the secret between them, she and Klaus, never acknowledging it beyond shared efforts of deflection. 

His siblings might suspect something is amiss, but at the end of the day, it’s Klaus -- no one looks too hard when he makes it so easy to take him at face value. 

Nineteen months, and then Five disappears. 

At first, Klaus can tell himself his brother is just being the self-righteous little asshole he’s always been. Five pisses off dad like it’s his job, and with each day that passes without him storming back into the mansion, he seems to be aiming to make a career out of it. 

Then too many days pass, and that explanation isn’t really enough anymore. 

“Maybe it worked,” Vanya says. She’s taken to sitting with Klaus these past few weeks. She doesn’t say it, but Klaus is pretty sure it’s because he’s the closest thing to the flurry of movement and sound that was Five before he--

Well. 

Klaus looks up from the graffiti he’s scratching into his bedroom wall. “What worked?”

Vanya pulls her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them. Her normally small voice is even deader than usual when she says, “Maybe he did jump into the future. Maybe he decided to stay.”

It’s a rare occasion when Klaus finds himself speechless, but he can’t think of a single thing to say that wouldn’t make things even worse. He’s still struggling to decide whether trying to dissuade his sister would help or not when Vanya cuts in again: 

“He can’t be dead.” She stares at the emptiest patch of wall in his room, eyes far away. 

“We would know. You would tell us.” 

Vanya’s words follow him down the hallway to Allison’s room that night, louder than any ghost’s wail ever had been. 

Relief colors Allison’s face when she lets him in, like she’s been waiting for him. 

“I need them back. I need to know.” 

Klaus thinks it’s the hardest thing he’s ever had to say. 

Allison nods, resolute, and says,  _ “I heard a rumor that you could see the ghosts again.”  _

Klaus blinks hard, dizzy and off balance. He props himself up on the corner of Allison’s desk and frantically looks around her room. 

The arms dealer waves at him. There’s still blood on his teeth. 

Five is nowhere to be found.

Neither are the manor ghosts.

(But of course, Klaus doesn’t really mean to tell Allison. And of course, Klaus never does.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come talk to me on [tumblr!](https://kneworder.tumblr.com)  
> 


End file.
